Main line rail industry news – Page 1232
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Rhein-Neckar ready to open
THE TIMETABLE change on December 14 will see the launch of Germany’s latest S-Bahn network. Following a €260m infrastructure upgrading programme, S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar will take over four routes radiating from Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg with a total length of 240 km. Major works in the project include the construction of ...
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Shanghai network keeps growing
ON OCTOBER 7 Alstom Transport confirmed that it had won a €184m contract to build 28 six-car Metropolis trainsets for the Yangpu metro line in Shanghai. They are due to be delivered between October 2005 and the end of 2007. Being built by Shanghai Mass Transit Yangpu Line ...
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Citytunnel progress
SWEDISH infrastructure authority Banverket has called bids for construction work on the three main sections of the 17 km cross-city tunnel link in Malm
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Competing regional trains unveiled
OCTOBER 9 saw Bombardier demonstrate its first two pre-series Autorails à Grande Capacité regional DMUs to French National Railways at the recently-completed testing centre in Valenciennes. On September 24 Alstom's ZTER EMU was presented to the media by Centre region, which will put a fleet of 15 three-car sets ...
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Austerity on the French agenda
OPTIONS to improve the woeful performance of the French rail freight business were due to be presented to the SNCF board on October 22. Freight revenue in the first six months of the year was 3% down on the same period in 2002, which SNCF blamed on the poor economic ...
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Vanløse link inaugurated
PHASE 2b of København’s automated metro was opened on October 12, extending Lines M1 and M2 west from Frederiksberg to Vanløse (RG 1.03 p31). The inauguration comes five months after completion of Phase 2a between Nørreport and Frederiksberg, which was opened by Queen Margrethe on May 29.The latest 2·8 km ...
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Jarvis aborts maintenance contracts
ONE OF the seven companies that until recently held 20 area contracts to maintain track, structures, signalling and electrification on Britain’s national network announced on October 10 that it was pulling out. Jarvis Chairman Paris Moayedi had informed Network Rail Chief Executive John Armitt at a meeting four days earlier ...
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Coal line stalled
BOLD PLANS by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad to upgrade 965 km of its existing route and build 450 km of new line into the Powder River coalfields of Wyoming (RG 3.02 p113) have been dealt a further setback by a federal court. In a ruling released on October ...
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Texans try again
LONG-STANDING readers may remember the Texas TGV, a proposal to build a 1000 km high speed network linking Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. This bit the dust in 1994 after Texas TGV Corp failed to raise sufficient funding for a franchise to build and operate the routes. Something similar, if ...
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World Bank warning
THE World Bank has warned Bangladesh Railway that dramatic improvements in efficiency are needed if it is ’to demonstrate that it has a real role to play in the future transportation system of the country and that it can hold its market share’. Productivity of staff and rolling stock was ...
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NSW subsidy squeeze threatens passengers
THE RELEASE in September of an interim report from the inquiry into sustainable transport in New South Wales poses the threat of a substantial reduction in the current level of subsidy for Sydney’s CityRail commuter trains, and perhaps even more so for Countrylink’s skeletal passenger services. Together, the trains consume ...
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European Networks go east
NEXT YEAR will see eight countries in Central and Eastern Europe joining of the European Union, along with Malta and Cyprus. With this in mind, the European Commission announced proposals on October 1 that envisage extension of the Trans-European Transport Network into Eastern Europe, so helping to cement the accession ...
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Renfe orders 80 Civias
MEETING ON October 13, the Spanish National Railways board approved orders for 80 Civia EMUs worth €407·5m, including maintenance over four years worth €32·5m. Siemens and CAF are to build 40 sets for €200m, and Alstom the remainder for €175m.Deliveries will take place between mid-2005 and the end of 2007, ...
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The right height
OVH Wizard is an ultrasonic overhead contact wire height and stagger measuring unit, which can be installed in under two hours. Cheaper than laser-based devices, it can be easily mounted on any railway vehicles from 2·75 to 3·75m high. The rugged aluminium beam construction is suited for installation on ...
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Plug-in doors
TWIN-LEAF passenger doors on a Bombardier LF2000 low-floor tram used in the city of Dessau have been replaced with a new door module from a range developed by Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau AG.The installation of the new doors for a one-year demonstration and testing period did not require changes to the tram’s ...
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Partnership in South Africa
UNION Carriage Partnership has been formed to carry out rolling stock refurbishment work in southern Africa. Union Carriage & Wagon, a subsidiary of Murray & Roberts, has a 70% stake in the Partnership, with 30% held by a consortium led by investment management company J & J Group. The consortium ...
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Russian leasing
BRUNSWICK Rail Leasing has been formed as a Russian rolling stock leasing joint venture of Brunswick Capital and Transgroup AC. Over the next five years BRL plans to invest US$200m, aiming to acquire a fleet of 10000 wagons by 2008.On August 26 Brunswick Capital Chairman Christopher MacKenzie met Russian Railways ...
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Measurement of wheel roughness caused by different types of composite brake block
BYLINE: Manfred KalivodapsiA-Consult, AustriaIn recent years composite brake blocks have been developed and tested to reduce rolling noise from coaches and wagons fitted with tread brakes. The principle is easy to explain - if the wheel’s running surface is not roughened or ’polished’ by the brake block material during braking, ...
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West Coast light rail grows
CEREMONIES to mark the opening of Sacramento’s 10·1 km South Line light rail extension were to be held on September 26. The $222m line from the city centre to Meadowview Road, with seven stations, has has been completed on time and on budget, according to Regional Transit District General Manager ...